Why Couldn’t Georges St-Pierre Just Stay Away?

Georges St. Pierre is officially a free agent. At least, according to him. I’m sure the UFC has other ideas. This should be huge news. But I can’t help but feel a little disappointed that Georges St. Pierre has declared himself a free agent, thus implying that he has intentions of fighting again.

Why, Georges?

GSP is unquestionably one of the three greatest fighters of all-time. You can even make a case that he’s the greatest fighter of all-time. He was the biggest draw and the second best fighter based on skill during his era. He stepped away three years ago, at the age of 32, with his health intact. He didn’t hold on too long and suffer needless knockouts. He went out as the Welterweight champion and the greatest Welterweight in the history of MMA.

So, three years later, why return?

Dana White has questioned St. Pierre’s desire. I believe Dana speaks in truths roughly 3% of the time, so you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t exactly believe what Mr. White says. Maybe GSP isn’t as passionate about the sport as he once was, but the fact that he’s even considering a comeback shows that he still has some kind of passion left.

It’s obvious that GSP’s desire to return is mostly about money. I’m talking more than McGregor money. And it’s obvious that the UFC doesn’t want to pay him that much because, uh, Ronda Rousey is coming back and she’s the biggest draw in entertainment history so they have to pay her every penny.

Becoming a free agent allows St. Pierre to maximize his profit, without the Reebok and UFC shackles.

But that’s the disappointing part of things. The UFC shackles are tight and uncomfortable, but they are there for a reason. It’s because the best fighters and the most eyeballs are on the UFC. St. Pierre could go to Bellator, his likely destination, or World Series of Fighting or anywhere else in the world and get paid a lot of money, but it won’t be the same.

I don’t want to see St. Pierre fight Andrey Koreshkov or Josh Koscheck for a third time or Paul Daley. A fight with Michael Page sounds good, but I don’t know if Bellator wants to risk such a fight given how much they’ve protected Page thus far.

GSP’s legacy won’t be ruined if he loses to Koreshkov or Page (it might be ruined if he loses to Koscheck or Daly), but these fights are needless. GSP is the one guy who got out on his terms. Why put your health in jeopardy now?

GSP is 35 years old. He hasn’t fought in three years. He hasn’t looked good in a fight since the second bout against Josh Koscheck. Do people not remember how bad GSP looked in those final UFC bouts? Whether it was his lack of fire, the torn ACL, wear and tear, fighters improving or a combination of those things and more; St. Pierre was not the same fighter in the bouts against Jake Shields, Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz, and Johny Hendricks. Three years after the Hendricks fight, why should I believe that he’ll be the guy that he was six year ago?

I don’t want to see GSP fight again. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll watch him fight again because he’s going to fight whether I watch or not so I may as well tune in and see what happens. I would just rather him not fight again. He has nothing to prove. He can gain money, but at what cost? If he’s brutally knocked out or absorbs an ungodly amount of strikes that puts his longterm health in danger, would that make it worth it?

Georges St. Pierre was supposed to be the guy that everyone modeled their career after. The supreme fighter who made a lot of money, took limited damage, and went out the way he wanted.

Instead, he’s just like the rest of them. He’s trying to stand up for a losing cause. He’s trying to fight the UFC over what’s right and what’s fair, even though that’s never worked out for anyone in the past. He’s being sucked back into the cage in order to stick it to the UFC.

It’s possible that, because the UFC is the UFC and won’t let this free agency thing go without a long legal battle, GSP never actually fights again. While that would be ideal, the fact that he’s going to battle the UFC in court doesn’t make things any better. It’s a played out storyline that never ends well and only hurts the reputation of the fighter (UFC’s reputation can’t get much lower).

Why couldn’t GSP just stay away? Why did he have to give in to his addiction three years after a near perfect ending? And where is Samer Kadi to answer these questions?